Can-opener



(No Model.)

J. G. LARRABEE.

CAN OPENER.

Patented May 26, 1896.

WITNESSES:

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JOSEPH G. LARRABEE, OF NEYVARK, NEW JERSEY.

CAN-OPENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,905, dated May 26, 1896.

'Application filed November 9, 1895. Serial No. 568,481; (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH G. LARRABEE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Openers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a more convenient, inexpensive, and effective can-opener, to reduce the cost of construction, to secure a greater scope in operation, and to obtain other advantages and results, some of which may be referred to hereinafter.

The invention consists in the improved can opener and in the arrangements and combinations of parts, all substantially as will be hereinafter set forth, and finally cinbraced in the clauses of the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters indicate corresponding parts in each of the views, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved opener in connection with a can, shown in section. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the cutting-blade. Fig. 3 is a plan of the device. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective of the cutter-carrier before being attached to the body; and Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the opener, taken at line a, Fig. 3. I

In said drawings, a indicates the body of the opener, consisting of a lever-like casting one end the said body is provided with a pointed fulcrumal projection a, adapted to be thrust through the sheet metal of the can, the said projection being bent downwardly, as indicated in side elevation, so as to provide a pivotal bearing a, on which the lever-like. body can be turned in sweeping over the flat end face of the can. The said body C0 is straight in side elevation from the fulcrum to the end of the handle portion, so that it will be prevented from tilting in the cutting operation.

Upon the parallel bars of the body portion is secured the cutter-carrier b. This consists ofa sheet-metal piece bent as shown in Fig. 4, where b b are parallel flanges bent so as to conform to the parallel bars a more or less closely, the extreme edges 19' of which are turned into the space between said bars a to provide stop-bearings to cooperate with the stops formed by the inner sides of the end connections a. By this construction the sliding cutter-carrier is prevented from becoming detached from the body when pushed toward the end of the latter. Said turned flanges are integrally joined by a connecting portion b, and to the opposite edges of said connecting portion are formed the cuttingblade 19 and a guide 17, the first being convexed to form opposite cutting edges, as in Fig. 2, pointed, as in Figs. 3, 4t, and 5, to pierce the can preliminary to cutting, and inclined downward and away from the connecting portion, as in Figs. 1 and 3, to give an upward movement to the discous piece being severed from the can, so that the latter can be more easily grasped by the hand, and to render the cutting operation more easy.

The downwardly-projecting guide b" serves to engage the edge of the can and guide the cutter, so that the latter will provide a smooth out concentric with the edge of the can. the cutter lies toward the guide 11 and tends to throw the free slidingcarrier Z) toward the fulcrum and thus keep the guide in contact with the periphery of the can. Thus the sides of the opening formed by the cutter will be concentric with the periphery of the can, even when the top of the can is not punctured at the center in providing bearings for the pointed fulcrum. It may be noted from the foregoing that the cutter-carrier is automatically adjustable. It can also be easily pushed longitudinally on the bars a a from near one end of the body to near The rounded or convex surface 19 of,

the opposite end, and thus the cutter has very considerable scope to cut disks of a great variety of sizes. The operation of cutting is similar to that of the other openers, and further description is deemed to be unnecessary.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is- 1. The improved can opener herein described, in which are combined with the leverlike body portion, comprising parallel bars a, a, end connections a, a, and a pointed and downwardly-turned fulcrumal projection 64', a cutter-carrier and its cutter, comprising a sheet-metal piece, having curved flanges b, b, which are turned around the said bars, and at their edges I), extend into the space formed between said bars, a connecting portion b, uniting said flanges, and a cuttingblade and a guide formed at the opposite vember, 1895.

JOSEPH G. LARRABEE. Witnesses:

CHARLES H. PELL, O. B. PITNEY. 

